The result is the stuff of legend - an insane, pornographic orgy of a film that details the rise and fall of the titular Roman Emperor (brilliantly played by McDowell), his sexual passion for his sister, his marriage to Rome's most infamous prostitute (Mirren), and his spectacularly inventive ways of dealing with his enemies, all garnished with the totally inappropriate sexual rompings of a dozen or so Penthouse Pets. Vidal was barred from the set and once principal photography was complete, Guccione banned Brass from the editing room and, after shooting extra footage of hardcore sex scenes, the 'Penthouse' boss set about editing the film himself. Unfortunately, Brass and Guccione's respective visions of what the film should be were worlds apart and no sooner had shooting started than the 'artistic' bickering began with Vidal, Guccione and Brass all falling out with each other. However, when Guccione chanced upon a preview screening of Tinto Brass's 'Salon Kitty', he knew he had found the right man for the job. Based on Suetonius's 'Lives Of The Twelve Caesars' and scripted by celebrated author and historian Gore Vidal, the film was produced by 'Penthouse' magazine publisher Bob Guccione, with the list of potential directors including the likes of John Huston and Nicolas Roeg. Notable for being the only major motion picture ever to star esteemed British actors of the calibre of McDowell, Gielgud, O'Toole and Mirren alongside scenes of extreme violence and explicit hardcore sex, CALIGULA is a true 'porn epic', a veritable catalogue of depravity the likes of which have never been seen in one single film before or since.Ī ridiculous and bombastic hymn to the decadence of the Roman Empire, this is definitely one movie that that has to be seen, if only to wonder, firstly, how the thing ever got off the ground, and secondly, how it was ever completed.

Initially hauled over the coals (and drastically censored) in 1979 on the grounds that it was indecent and potentially obscene, now, almost 30 years later, the uncut version of CALIGULA has finally been granted an 18 Certificate by the BBFC. The notorious and ludicrously opulent multi-million dollar 'porn epic' that sees esteemed British acting stars Malcolm McDowell, John Gielgud, Peter O'Toole and Helen Mirren being outrageously upstaged by graphic sequences involving anal fisting, explicit lesbian trysts, orgies and blow jobs (among other things), the uncut CALIGULA finally comes to DVD in September.ĬALIGULA: THE IMPERIAL EDITION comes as a four-disc set that features three separate versions of the film including the complete, fully uncut and uncensored version that sealed this demented film's reputation as one of the most controversial in cinema history.

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